Robert Fryar
Prof. Santos
1stYearSem
March 8 2018
Nina Simone’s Mental Illness
Nina Simone is a symbol of strength and power among all people who are commonly the target of prejudice. However, her mental state was not as sturdy as her confident exterior. She was known for her extreme behavior all throughout her career. Simone was someone who could be looked up to however she was someone who had to fight with her own demons just as much as she fought inequality.
As it was previously stated Simone was well known for her temper and outbursts. One of the more dramatic instances was when she attempted the murder of an executive of her music company for supposedly stealing her royalties in 1985. Shortly after this event she was diagnosed with Bipolar Syndrome which explains her rather explosive attitude. This however was not the last time Simone pointed a gun at a person as she once had a shoe salesman return a pair of sandals at gunpoint. Another example of a violent episode was when she shot a neighborhood boy with and air soft rifle for disrupting her “concentration”. Finally, She ripped a pay phone out of the wall because she was refused immediate payment. Simone was a person who often had violent episodes due to her mental illness. The problems she could not solve with her voice she solved with force.